The technical education class was also awarded the "Model Program and Practice" Award from the Los Angeles County Office of Education and the California Department of Education.

Downey FCU's Community Education and Development Representative, Kari Johnson, mentored the students by teaching some units from the MoneyWise Teen curriculum and helped them develop their winning presentation to judges.

Major funding for the MoneyWise Teen competition came from the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of Los Angeles. Other major contributors include the Richard Miles Johnson Foundation and HSBC Bank.